By Marcus FATUNMOLE
DOZENS of dilapidated buildings currently occupied by police officers and their families at different barracks in Ikeja Local Government Area of Lagos are tragedies waiting to happen.
Ramshackle MOPOL 20 and Area F barracks cluster near the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) – an institution that should ensure basic minimum standards are maintained in buildings and renovation of existing ones in the state.
The barracks remain in their perilous state, at least 70 years after some of them were built, exemplifying the systemic rot in Nigeria, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the hardships faced by many of its rank and file.
The blocks are riddled with cracks and blotches, and their walls have long been blighted and peeling. There are clear signs the concretes could lose strength while some of the buildings give way, placing hundreds of its occupants in the jaw of death. Though many of the occupants are aware of the looming tragedy.
The ICIR observed that the barracks, with derelict buildings marked by weathered wall and sagging roofs, stand out as eyesore among impressive facilities in the neighbourhood, including institutions of the Nigerian Police Force.
Among such facilities are the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja Police College, Police Department of Operations, Special Protection Unit (SPU), and Ikeja Divisional Police Headquarters.
Other good buildings in the area could be found in the Emeka Anyaoku Estate, Lagos State High Court, Lagos State Electrification Agency, Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Office of the Auditor General for Local Governments, Ikeja Tax Stations, Lagos State Muslims Welfare Board, Lagos State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Motor Vehicles Administration Agency, and Ikeja Senior High School.
There are other police barracks in Ikeja metropolis, namely Mounted Troop, New Staff Quarters, MTD Barracks, Mopol 23 Barrack, Central Store, and Traffic Training School. Their conditions are not as bad as those of Area F and Mopol 20 Barracks.
From the rear, the two barracks tell a far grimmer story than their frontages. The walls are streaked and stained with filth, smeared by wastewater from leaking pipes and overflowing drains. The soakaways and sewage ooze foully, and the stench wafts into the neighbourhood.
About a kilometer away from Mopol 20 Barrack is Area F – said to have been built before Nigeria’s independence.
Some police officers and other residents who were born and raised in the area told the reporter that the barrack was initially designed to accommodate workers of the pre-colonial Public Work Department (PWD) and was converted to a police barrack after Nigeria’s independence.
The structures have remained as they were since they were built. They exist with broken floors and ceilings that leave gaping holes for rodents, birds and vermin to torment occupants, mostly at night.
The bungalows among them were the first to be constructed (before Nigeria’s independence) Though they appear to be standing strong, they exhibit varying defects, including broken ceilings and floors. The most noticeable problems with them are the detached toilets and bathrooms. They are heavily weathered and reeking.
A row of block has about 10 room and parlours with five detached toilets. Each row of building has five small, detached buildings, comprising two separate sections, each with its toilet and bathroom.
The lack of public water in the barracks worsen poor hygiene among occupants. Churches, NGOs and other well-meaning people dug boreholes for the barracks. While public water is in Ikeja, it is not connected to the barracks. The reporter saw water vendors serving homes in barracks that could be described as microcosm of the nation – their occupants are from different regions of the country, representing a mix of cultures and backgrounds.
“When the barracks were built, they had public water. Today, you can hardly see any pipe of public water in any of the barracks,” Mojolaoluwa Oladimeji, an elderly woman within the neighbourhood told the reporter.
In 2025, the police authorities asked occupants of the facilities to quit. Rumours spread that they had been sold to private developers who would rebuild and rent them out at subsidised rates to officers.
Another version of the news claimed that the NPF was ashamed of the structures and was uncomfortable with their continued existence at the heart of Nigeria’s commercial capital. However, while the tenants were planning to vacate, the police leadership in Abuja allegedly said the demolition of old barracks across the country should be done in phases.
“Specifically, the IGP said the Force would not pull these barracks down while we have not rebuilt the ones already demolished in Lagos here. He said all the old barracks could not go down simultaneously, but they should be done in phases,” one of the officers who spoke in confidence with our reporter said.
Alani Kayode, (not real name) is among the tenants. He was informed by the police authorities to quit his ramshackle apartment at the Mopol 20 Police Barrack in 2024. The NPF was to pay N2 million for each room occupied at the barracks.
Kayode treats his wife and children for typhoid and malaria at least once monthly. He complained bitterly about how rodents, cockroaches and other pests co-habit with the residents, including his family, because many sections of the barrack’s floors and walls are fissured, serving as easy abode for pests.
He also blamed this on polluted air occasioned by stench from leaked sewage that flows freely around buildings and breed legion of mosquitoes.
“You can see that this place is unsafe for anyone. It’s seriously affecting us mentally. You can’t boast of your residence or bring a visitor or extended relation to your home as an officer of the Nigerian Police. One does not need any court to give a verdict on this – it’s too bad. I repaired my doors, windows and I replaced all the nets. Can I change the poor air that my family breathes?
“We are only managing this place because it was given to us free. We don’t pay for rent. Many of us cannot afford accommodation outside. You don’t expect officers of the Nigerian Police to live in this place, especially in the 21st century. The state of the buildings speaks for themselves,” he said.
The officer was transferred to Ikeja in 2016 and has since been living with his family at the barrack. Several officers interviewed said the Mopol 20 and Area F barracks had long been abandoned by the authorities since they are largely occupied by the rank and file.
Kayode confirms this. “I met the buildings in this condition. The problems did not start today, our barracks have long been neglected by the successive police leaderships and governments. This is exactly what you see in many states across our country.
“Go to the back of these buildings and see what they look like – very disgusting. The buildings look as if they will fall in the next second. Can the world imagine that Nigerian police officers live in this place? Not in worn-torn Sudan or Gaza, but located in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria’s former capital. There is nothing the occupants can do to salvage the situation. Much of the infrastructures have damaged because they have exceeded their lifespan,” Kayode noted.
The reporters inspected some rooms, toilets, and bathrooms in the barracks. They reeked, and their walls and floors were rank and too filthy for humans to use. Because of the state of the facilities, many occupants defecate in bowls and empty in the toilets.
Available records show that Lagos State records the most building collapses in Nigeria. Curiously, President Bola Tinubu recently announced the recruitment of additional 50,000 police officers to help curb ballooning insecurity nationwide.
Though the police authorities neither provided the population of their officers in Lagos State nor responded to other enquiries on the findings of this investigation through a freedom of information request by The ICIR, it is believed that a chunk of the new police recruits ordered by Tinubu will be posted to Lagos, and some of them will live in these time-worn barracks.
Officers’ lamentations
The officers complained bitterly about delayed payment of their salaries by the government. “We don’t get salaries like other government workers on time. Our salaries always come in the first week of the following month. This is not good enough. Some government workers get their payments by 28th of the month.
“The police provide essential services to the people; therefore, their welfare should be prioritised,” said another officer, Obinna Chukwuemeka (not real name)
Chukwuemeka bemoaned unavailability of means of transportation for police officers to their duty posts as provided for civil servants in the state and by the Federal Government. “There are no means of transportation. Police officers look for transportation to their places of work. Even some of the vans we have for operations won’t have fuel to run them,” he said.
According to him, police are not motivated. “We are the worst motivated police in Africa, despite facing some of the worst insecurity issues on the continent. We are not motivated in the area of housing, transportation, uniforms and accountrements.
“The irony of the matter is that officers on operations are not given uniforms and accountrements when they need them. One of the reasons there is no uniform dressing in the police is that people buy many of these things on their own. Look at police officers when they stand together, maybe on duty, you can clearly see these differences in their dressings. Once there is no uniformity and consistency in supply, people will only buy what they can afford.”
Aminat Abubakar, a female officer, (not real name) noted that under the guise of inadequate manpower, officers end up working for 24 hours instead of eight hours.
She said, “Once you’re given these substandard barracks, maintaining, fixing, water and other amenities become the duties of the officers. The worst is the road. If you come here during the rainy season, you will cry for us. Some of our homes are flooded through leaked roofs, and water from flood troop into our rooms. There are no good drainages; floodwater moves anyhow when it rains.”
She bemoaned the condition of police officers and their families, arguing that there was no care for them, and many of their families lived in poverty.
The woman recalled the agonies retired officers endure when claiming gratuity and other benefits, including the travails which relations of officers who died in the line of duty face in getting the deceased’s benefits.
Another officer who commented on the crises faced by police officers said they were not motivated in any way. “See where our officers are living. A police officer cannot proudly say he bought a tokunbo car except he is favoured. How many officers can proudly buy a tear rubber vehicle?
“Our major challenges are that the roads inside the barracks are terrible and the buildings are very dilapidated. Ije Barrack, Obalende, was the worst barrack in Lagos State. It was demolished recently.
“We were supposed to have left this place for long. The authorities said the Force should build the barracks that were pulled down first before demolishing and sending people out of these places. They wanted to pay N2 million as relocation allowance for each room. You can imagine hundreds of rooms within Area F and Mopol 20 barracks. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and we are still waiting.”
Some of the officers interviewed said many non-governmental organisations exploit their challenges to deceive their superiors and get police protection.
“Some corporate institutions will come and mount their banners etc. in the barrack, promising they would support us with some amenities. They do this with the intention of getting free security protection by making our superiors release some officers to them.
“At the end of the day, they don’t do anything. One of the organisations to be deceived easily is the police. They will tell lie that they have seen the ogas (bosses) at the top and do whatever they like with the rank and file who are released to them,” one of the officers said.
Police budgets for barracks
The ICIR gleaned the Federal Government’s budgets for building and rehabilitating barracks for officers of the NPF from 2021 to 2026. The budgets were lumped with allocations for building police stations.
The figures are shown in the table below
| S/N | Year | Construction/Provision of Police Stations/Barracks
|
Rehabilitation/Repairs of Police Stations/Barracks
|
| 1 | 2021 | N5.71 billion | N71 million |
| 2 | 2022 | N5.83 billion | N181.97 million |
| 3 | 2023 | N6.75 billion | N181.97 million |
| 4 | 2024 | N6.77 billion | N1.34 billion |
| 5 | 2025 | N7.87 billion | N1.195 billion |
| 6 | 2026 | N16.38 billion | N451.63 million |
Source: Budget Office of the Federation
The budget shows that while allocations for construction/provision of police stations/ barracks enjoyed minimal rise between 2021 and 2025, the figure rose sharply by 108 per cent in 2026.
Similarly, the government proposed N451.63 million for the rehabilitation/repairs of police stations/barracks in 2026. This is a sharp decline from N1.195 billion approved in the previous year. The allocation decreased by 62.2 per cent.
History of building collapses in Lagos
Lagos State has a long history of building collapses and accompanying human casualties and loss of valuables. The ICIR investigation revealed that regulatory failure is largely responsible for these preventable tragedies. The disasters happen almost yearly with alarming tolls.
The ICIR reported how eight building collapsed under the watch of the state former Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Idris Salako, a doctor, under whose watch many buildings gave way. He resigned over continuous crumbling of buildings in the state.
The state government often reacts after a building has caved in, with threats to pull down substandard structures.
In 2019, the state government vowed to pull down old buildings at the Ita Faji area of Lagos Island after a three-storey building collapsed.
A two-storey building, located at No. 54 Cole Street, near Cemetery Bus Stop, collapsed in the early hours of Monday, October 27, trapping several occupants under the rubble when many of its occupants were asleep.
A five-storey building fell in the state in April 2023 at Ladipo Oluwole Street in the GRA area of Apapa.
At least five people died after another building gave way on Wilson Mba Street, Arowojobe Estate Maryland in July 2024.
In September 2022, a three-storey building collapsed on Sonuga Street, Palm Avenue, Mushin, Lagos. Two people were rescued from its rubbles.
No fewer than two people died following the collapse of a seven-storey building in the Lekki area of Lagos in September 2022.
What appears the most tragic of building collapse in the state in recent years was the 21-storey building under construction which crumbled and killed its owner and others at the Ikoyi area of the state in November 2021.
All these happened under the watch of successive governments and the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) “set up to ensure that basic minimum standards are maintained in building construction and renovation of existing and new buildings to be safe, healthy, accessible and habitable for present and future generations.
“The agency works together with developers/owners to provide a highly quality service and make sure that all buildings are satisfactorily carried out,” according to information on its website.
When contacted by the reporter, the agency’s spokesperson, Ademuyiwa Adu, said his organisation wasn’t aware of the state of the barracks. “I appreciate what you have said. I will go and check. I can’t speak on police. You know police and army, you can’t just badge into their barracks and say you want to visit or whatever,” he said when told how terrible the barracks are.
Police fail to react
Through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, The ICIR sought to know the number of barracks the Nigeria Police Force had built for its officers in Lagos State over the past 10 years.
Besides, the request sought to have the population of police officers in the state.
The ICIR, in the letter, dated January 23, 2026, and received by the Central Mall Collection Office, Department of Finance and Administration, Force Headquarters, Abuja, same day, also requested the dates some barracks in the Ikeja area of the state were built.
The barracks include Mopol 20, Area F, Mounted Troop, New Staff Quarters, MTD Barrack, Mopol 23 Barrack, Central Store and Traffic Training School.
The NPF failed to respond to the request nearly one month before this report was filed, in flagrant abuse of the law.
Section Four of the FoI states, “Where information is applied for under this Act, the public institution to which the application is made shall, subject to sections 6, 7, and 8 of this Act, within 7 days after the application is received – (a) make the information available to the applicant.
“(b) Where the public institution considers that the application should be denied, the institution shall give written notice to the applicant that access to all or part of the information will not be granted, stating reasons for the denial, and the section of this Act under which the denial is made.”
The NPF only collected the request and refused to act on it.
Section 7, subsection 4 and 5 of the Act states, “Where the government or public institution fails to give access to information or record applied for under this Act or part thereof within the time limit set out in this Act, the institution shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have refused to give access.
“Where a case of wrongful denial of access is established, the defaulting officer or institution commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N500, 000.”
The ICIR also contacted the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, an assistant commissioner of police, on the phone to get his reactions to the findings and claims made by residents.
He did not respond to calls, text and WhatsApp messages sent to his line.
This organisation also contacted the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Abimbola Adebisi, a superintendent of police, on the findings. She promised to check the barracks when the reporter spoke with her on the phone on Friday, February 13. Follow-up calls and text messages the following week attracted no response from her.
